19-month-old boy shot to death in Lehigh County; mother charged

Monday

Oct 8, 2012 at 8:16 AMOct 8, 2012 at 8:18 AM

Patrick Lester

A 26-year-old Slatington woman says she was trying to unload a gun she planned to sell for $200 when the weapon fired, striking and killing her 19-month-old son as he lay in a crib late Saturday night, authorities said.

Holly Pallone called 911 and told dispatchers, "There was a gun and it went off and it hit my son in the forehead," according to court records.

Slatington police were called to the second-floor apartment at 214 N. Walnut St. at 11:53 p.m. Saturday and found Anthony F. Pallone Jr. in the crib.

She is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, according to court records. Involuntary manslaughter is a second-degree felony that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

Pallone was arraigned Sunday morning from Lehigh County Prison by District Judge Michael D. D'Amore in Allentown.

During the video arraignment, Pallone answered "yes sir" to D'Amore's questions when asked if she understood the charges against her. Pallone showed no expression until D'Amore informed her that bail was being set at $1 million.

"I have no way of making that," Pallone told the judge. "No, they told me that ..."

At that point, D'Amore interrupted and finished explaining her options for posting bail.

According to court records, the gun, a Smith and Wesson .44-caliber, was owned by Lloyd Peters, who rented apartment 2B above Lehigh Valley Auto Parts, where the shooting took place.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Peters, 66, was not in the apartment at the time of the shooting. He said investigators have ruled out the possibility that anyone else was in the apartment at the time of the shooting or was otherwise involved in the crime.

"[Holly Pallone] was sitting on the bed and attempted to unload a firearm and discharged it," Martin said. "The bullet went into the mattress. We've seen that. Unfortunately, it traveled through the mattress ... and into the baby's [crib]."

Holly Pallone told police that she had planned to sell the gun for $200 to a man she referred to as "Low," from Allentown.

Pallone told police she used to buy drugs from "Low," and that he was coming to the apartment later that night or early Sunday to buy the gun.

Pallone told police she took the gun from the shelf to prepare to sell it, and while sitting on her bed next to the crib, she tried to unload it. As she was trying to remove the bullets, she apparently caught the hammer and the gun discharged, according to court records.

Pallone told police that "she did not know about guns and did not know how to unload" the weapon, court papers say.

Grim ruled the boy's death a homicide and scheduled an autopsy for Monday. Slatington police, the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force, the district attorney's office and the coroner's office are investigating.